Avatar: The Last Airbender boasts a wide variety of characters. Whether they’re funny, creepy, sympathetic, or just plain strange, this show had a lot of people to work with. No matter what type of person you liked, you would likely find them in Avatar. And one of the most well-known characters in the show, besides Aang himself, is likely Katara, the waterbender from the Southern Pole Water Tribe.
Katara has a bit of a mixed following: some fans absolutely love her and think she’s fantastic, while others find her a bit too overbearing and dramatic. But I think that’s what makes her a good character, since she has some wonderful strengths and some believable flaws as well. Let’s not also forget just how powerful this girl actually is. She mastered waterbending within a year and was instrumental in taking down Azula, one of the most powerful firebenders in the series. Say what you will about Katara, the girl has guts!
I personally rather like Katara. She’s mature and wise beyond her years, she’s compassionate and caring, even to those considered her enemies, yet she’s not afraid to fight for what she feels is right. She proves to be a great source of strength to her friends, her people, and even the world. In general, she’s just an awesome, yet believable character.
Whether you’re a huge fan of Katara or not, I’m sure there are some things you likely don’t know about her. So here are 20 surprising things you probably didn’t know about Katara, our favorite waterbender. Think we missed a few? Be sure to let us know!
20 Zutara Could've Been A Thing
I’m sure you heard about or maybe were a part of the crazy shipping wars that happened in Avatar: The Last Airbender. Two big ships were Zutara and Kataang. Many people thought Katara and Zuko should get together, while others were dead set on Katara and Aang becoming an item. It was quite a big deal.
Eventually, Katara and Aang do get together but did you know the writers toyed with the idea of putting Katara and Zuko together? Katara and Aang were always their end goal, but the writers mentioned that they thought about having the Fire Nation prince and the Master Waterbender become an item. So Zutara shippers can take some comfort that their ship almost happened. I honestly prefer Kataang, but I can see how Zutara could work out.
19 You Wouldn't Like Her When She's Angry
Katara is known for being the most mature and responsible one in the group. She had to grow up fast as a child, and ended up taking over many of the maternal duties after her and Sokka’s mother died. As a result, she can be quite motherly and has quite the strong moral compass.
But Katara isn’t perfect, and what some viewers don’t pick up on initially is that she has quite the nasty temper and has a tendency to hold grudges. This comes out when she’s particularly tired, or if someone has betrayed her. Her temper shows up particularly when she’s dealing with Jet and Zuko, as she felt they both betrayed he (which they did). When she meets them again, she treats them with outright hostility. Katara doesn’t get very angry that often, but when she does, you better watch out.
18 She's The Master Of All
Most bending styles have a few sub-bending styles that benders can pick up as well as the general element. In waterbending, there are two sub-styles: healing and bloodbending. Katara is the only waterbender who has mastered both substyles.
Katara learned she had an affinity for healing after Aang accidentally burns her hands. As she plunged them into the water, they started to glow and she healed those hands. She’s used her abilities to heal both Aang and Zuko from lightning attacks. She was forced to learn bloodbending from a waterbender named Hama who threatened her friends. Katara abhors bloodbending and rarely uses it, except for moments of great distress or anger. But seriously, to master both substyles in such a short time? Katara is pretty freaking powerful!
17 I Want Her For A Doctor
This woman truly is an incredibly powerful waterbender. Not long after Katara discovered her healing powers, she honed them while at the Northern Water Tribe, where she also got powerful spirit water to aid her in healing. This proved to be crucial in her bringing Aang back to life after he was shot with lightning by Azula later on. She also helped heal Zuko after he was shot by lightning, saving his life. This was all within a year of discovering her abilities.
But Katara doesn’t stop there. After the events of The Last Airbender, Katara continued to develop her healing and eventually became known as the greatest Master Healer in the world. People would come to her for her help from all over. A powerful fighter and a healer? This girl has no limits!
16 What's In A Name?
Did you know that Katara’s name wasn’t originally going to be Katara? In the initial stages of development, the creators of Avatar were originally going to name our main waterbender Kya. That came to a halt when Nickelodeon’s legal team came to them and said that a popular game that was coming out had a girl named Kya, so they were encouraged to change it.
The creators then toyed with naming her Kanna, but eventually went with Katara. But as you know, those other names did get used as Kya and Kanna are Katara’s mother and grandmother. I guess the name wasn’t a problem if it wasn’t the main character. It’s a little weird to think of Katara with any other name than her own, though. It just suits her so well.
15 She's Always There
Throughout the series, there have only been three people that have been present or at least mentioned in every single episode, with the exception of the episode “Zuko Alone.” Those people are Aang, Sokka, and Katara. So Katara has been in or at least mentioned in nearly every single episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender.
This is pretty impressive, especially since cartoons around the same time period didn’t always have such a strong female presence. The fact that a fantasy action cartoon not only has a female as one of the main characters, but has her present practically all of the episodes is pretty amazing. But after all, Katara ended up being such a complex and interesting character that it makes sense she has such a presence in the show. Go Katara!
14 Only She Could Calm The Storm
Whenever Aang would go into the Avatar State, he would wield some pretty impressive and destructive power. Initially, he generally only did this when he was either in serious danger, or under great stress. Eventually, Aang learned to how to be in control of the Avatar State, but before, those moments were pretty freaky.
There were two big times where Aang accessed the Avatar State due to great anger and pain: once when he figured out Gyatso was killed by firebenders, and again when he discovered the sandbenders took and sold Appa. During those moments, the only person who was able to calm Aang down out of the Avatar State was Katara. It’s actually pretty sweet, and it shows the unique bond that’s present between these two.
13 Her Voice May Sound Familiar
If you’ve seen American Dragon: Jake Long, or Nickelodeon’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, you may find the characters Rose or April to sound rather familiar. Well, there’s a reason for that. The truth is, the girl who voiced Rose from American Dragon: Jake Long and April from TMNT was the voice actress for Katara!
Mae Whitman has done quite a bit of voice acting in various cartoons including Fillmore!, Johnny Bravo, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Young Justice, Dragons: Riders of Berk, DC Super Hero Girls, and so on. She’s also been in a few live-action movies like Independence Day and The Duff. Another interesting thing is that Dante Basco, who voices Zuko, also voiced Jake, Rose’s love interest in American Dragon: Jake Long. These two characters do end up together, so Zutara fans can rejoice!
12 When We Were Kids
Did you know that Katara and Sokka were originally going to be a bit younger than they are? The creators had always planned to have a brother and sister in the show since they wanted to play around with sibling dynamics. In the show, Katara is about 14 and Sokka is about 16. But the writers were originally going to have them be younger.
Apparently, Katara was going to be the same age as Aang, only 12. And Sokka was only going to be a year older than her, at 13. But as they developed the story more, the writers decided to age up the two siblings. Personally, I like that the two are a bit older; it makes for a more interesting dynamic between them.
11 It's A Mini Katara!
With popular TV shows also come the rampant merchandise. After all, these companies are looking to make money, and the fans want stuff to show their love of these shows. And Avatar: The Last Airbender was no exception. You can find t-shirts, books, hats, games, plushies, and all sorts of things to show your love of Avatar. But did you know that even LEGO jumped on the Avatar train?
If you want to get a toy or some type of figurine of Katara, apparently LEGO came out with a bunch of mini figurines of many of the characters from Avatar: The last Airbender. You can get Katara, Iroh, Zuko, and many more. These little LEGO figures are actually really cute, and they look quite a bit like their characters. Now, all we need is a LEGO video game about Avatar, and we’d be totally set!
10 Two Avatars Have Looked To Her
Not many people in the world of Avatar can say they’ve met the Avatar, let alone more than one. Most people only meet one version in their lifetime. Unless you’re Katara. In fact, Katara has had quite a few interactions with multiple versions of the Avatar.
She has interacted with two of Aang’s past lives, Kyoshi and Roku, when they’ve manifested in Aang at different points. It does make sense since Katara is the most spiritual out of the group, besides Aang. She has also trained not one but two Avatars: Aang, and later Korra. Just think about that. Katara helped train not one, but two Avatars, the most powerful people in the world. That is seriously impressive!
9 I Want To Break Free!
Bloodbenders are seriously scary people. By bending the water in the body, they can control your body to do whatever they want. They’re basically puppet masters, which is so creepy. When you’re at the mercy of a bloodbender, it’s nearly impossible to break free of their grip. Unless you’re Katara.
The first time Katara actually came across bloodbending was when she was with Hama, the water bender who was living in the Fire Nation. In a fight, the deranged water bender started bloodbending Katara in order to control her. But when she threatens Aang and Sokka, Katara breaks free of Hama’s bloodbending grip and then proceeds to bloodbend her. So far, Katara is the only person who has managed to break free from a bloodbender of their own free will. Go Katara!
8 A Gentle Touch
Zuko’s scar over the left side of his face has become quite the iconic mark. It was his defining feature for a long time, and the memory of it and what it symbolized haunted Zuko for years after he received it. I don’t blame him; if my father had burned half of my face and exiled me simply for speaking out against him, I’d be pretty bitter about it too.
I can imagine that Zuko wouldn’t really let anybody touch his scar, especially since he’s not much of a touchy feely person in the first place. But the first person to actually touch his scar in the series was Katara. When both are sent down to the dungeons in Ba Sing Se, they begin to talk and understand each other a little better. Katara then offers to try and heal Zuko’s scar, laying a hand on it. The only other person to touch Zuko’s scar is Mai.
7 These Two Definitely Had Something
Remember Jet, one of Katara’s potential love interests, who proved to be a bit too psychotic and extreme for her taste? Jet was the epitome of the cool character. At first glance, he’s this suave, rather charming guy that watches out for his crew. You could tell that at first glance, Katara was definitely attracted to him, and the feeling was mutual.
But did you know that Jet was actually Katara’s first kiss? While it was never shown on screen, the creators confirmed that the two had actually kissed. It makes sense since later when Toph asked Katara if he had been her boyfriend, Katara says no, but Toph can tell she’s lying. For that brief period of time, the two were definitely involved romantically. Can’t say I blame Katara; Jet was pretty attractive.
6 She's More Important Than You Think
The term “deuteragonist” refers to the character who is the second most important character in a story. They’re also known as the secondary main character. This is the character that may be supporting or opposing the main character, depending on the story. And according to the creators of Avatar: The Last Airbender, Katara is the deuteragonist in this series.
This makes sense. Katara is in practically every episode, she helps out Aang, the protagonist, and supports him, and she’s quite the driving force in the story. Katara is the one who helps comfort Aang when he’s upset, and encourages him to master the elements and fight the Fire Nation. No matter what, Katara is there to help and protect. Essentially, she’s a great source of strength to Aang. She makes a fantastic deuteragonist in my opinion.
5 Drawing Under Pressure
It’s always fun to look at the concept art for characters for a TV show, since they’re glimpses into what the creators initially had in mind for them. A lot of times, the concept art for many characters isn’t even done by the time the creators pitch the show to a network. In Katara’s case, her art was done just hours before the show was pitched to Nickelodeon.
The creators said that they realized they hadn’t done any actual concept art for Katara, so within the few hours they had before they were pitching the show, they came up with some quick sketches for her. The crazy thing is those sketches are pretty much what her final look ended up being. Look at what you can do under pressure!
4 A Name Can Tell You Much
Most of the names in Avatar: The Last Airbender have a meaning to them. For example, Momo’s name means “peach,” the characters in Sokka’s name mean “inquire” and “block,” and Aang’s name means “peaceful soaring.” Even Zuko’s name has an interesting meaning: “awaken rank.” But what does Katara’s name mean?
Apparently, Katara’s name consists of three characters that mean “block,” “pagoda,” and “pull.” The last character is pretty apt, considering the very essence of water bending is mimicking the moon’s pull on the tides of the earth. The idea of waterbending is following the motions of pull and push. That’s pretty cool that part of Katara’s name could be seen as a reference to water bending. Her waterbending is literally written in her identity.
3 The Most Popular Girl
While the main focus of the show wasn’t romance, it still was in there. Between the slowly blossoming romance of Aang and Katara, the odd, yet entertaining romance of Zuko and Mai, and Sokka’s hilarious, yet sweet romance with Suki, there was plenty to go around. But did you know that Katara had the longest list of love interests?
There were Aang and Jet of course, and she did kiss both of them. But there was also Zuko, who she may have been interested in, at least until his betrayal, and while nothing happened, there was also Haru from the Earth Kingdom. That makes about four love interests total. I don’t blame them though, since Katara is an amazing, beautiful, and incredibly strong girl. Who wouldn’t want to date her?
2 By The Power Of The Moon...
When it comes to learning how to bend your element, it’s stressed that you need to learn from the original source. The original benders were how the humans learned how to bend the elements. The airbenders learned from the sky bison, the earth benders learned from the badgermoles, and the firebenders learned from the dragons. So, who was the original source of waterbending, Katara’s element?
According to Katara herself, waterbenders learned from the moon as it pulled on the tides. What I find interesting about this is that the waterbending style is the only one that wasn’t taught by an animal. All of the other original sources are animals. I wonder why that is? Maybe there were animals that could waterbend, but the waterbenders just found inspiration from the moon. It’s pretty cool, though.
1 Our First Look At Bending
Throughout the show, we see all types of people bending the four elements in various and rather creative ways. From Iroh breathing fire out of his mouth, to the swamp dwellers bending the water in the vines, there’s all types of interesting bending going on. But there had to be a starting point in the series. And it all started with Katara.
Discounting the show’s opening theme, Katara is actually the first person to be shown bending an element in the series. The first episode opens up with Katara trying to help Sokka fish by bending the water. Granted, her bending at that point was amateurish at best, but she was still doing it. It’s incredible to see what the show has done with bending since then.